Warriors attack and win again

December 6, 2012

And that wasn't good news for the Huskies' six-player roster - which dropped to five less than a minute into the second quarter.

Stretching an 11-point halftime cushion with a 20-5 surge in the third, the Meskwaki girls basketball team took advantage of a winded Cedar Valley Christian squad for a 62-41 non-conference victory Monday.

"That's a lot of our game. We push the ball and try to get the easy buckets and layups," said Meskwaki coach Heath Brown, whose squad led by nine five times in the first half before finally using a 10-3 run to create some breathing room at halftime.

"We attack as we soon as get it. We knew they only had six players, so we took advantage of that."

Leading 32-21 at the break, the Warriors continued to push the ball at any and every opportunity as the Huskies, who lost starting guard Annie McElree with a turned ankle in the second quarter, struggled to keep pace.

A trio of layups and two treys from Deana Keahna, who tallied a game-high 27 points, triggered the Warriors' blitz as the senior guard's final 3 gave Meskwaki a 58-30 advantage late in the third.

"She's good at moving without the ball," said Brown. "She just finds those gaps in the defense and takes advantage of it."

Scoring 12 of the team's 21-first half points, Shelby Hembera helped Cedar Valley Christian stay afloat and finished with 24 points on the evening. The sophomore forward was able to exploit the Warrior's lack of size inside after Jaden Davenport picked up her fourth foul early in the third. Still, the Warriors found enough fast break opportunities to outscore the visitors 26-12 in the frame and wrap up their third straight 20-plus point victory of the season. Tiana Thompson and Chasia Shuckahosee added eight points apiece in the win.

Second chance opportunities were what allowed the Huskies to hang around as long as they did and cleaning up the glass is an area Brown knows his team must shore up.

"We're still working on that," said Brown.

"When we're going against the bigger girls in the conference, we'll have to do better."

Off to a 3-0 start for the second year in a row, the Warriors face North Tama (0-2) in Iowa Star Conference play on the road tonight.